Your Eyes So Blue
by Kirra kills
Summary: an explanation to how Cloud got to the Coliseum, and under the employment of Hades. it's an Axel/Cloud friend!fic. r&r, please. oneshot


_**I don't own kingdom hearts or final fantasy. Thank you**_

Axel had only ever met him once. Axel had been in Hollow Bastion, just after the world had been taken over with heartless. It was a simple recon mission, get in, scout around, get out. That was it. That was all he expected. What he hadn't expected was a survivor to still be there.

"A bunch of rocks, a bunch of heartless, a bunch of old, ruined buildings. Now why am I out here again?" muttered Axel, looking around. He smacked his head. "Oh, that's right! The boss-man ordered me to come out here to make sure nothing valuable"- here, he kicked some of the surrounding rubble at one of the nearby heartless, who dodged it easily. "Was left behind on this junk-pile he called a home!" he turned, willing up a portal of darkness muttering "well, when he was a Somebody, at least…" he was about to step into the portal when he heard something. It was the soft sound of feet dragging, the sound of a blade running across the ground. He turned, half expecting either a really powerful and stupid heartless, or one of the other organization members. But what he saw there almost made his jaw drop.

It was a human boy, a Somebody. Left behind when this world had been consumed by darkness, but not consumed himself. That in itself was strange. Any who didn't make it off the worlds were either consumed, or were destroyed by the heartless. Obviously, the kid wasn't normal. But normal or not, the kid was covered in blood, most of it obviously his own. His hair was blond, the bits that showed through the blood, anyway. Even with all that blood, though, it still stuck out like the tail-feathers of a chocobo. He had blue eyes. The most arresting blue Axel had ever seen. Where did you even _get_ eyes that naturally blue? The kid stopped walking and looked up, straight at Axel, his blue eyes widening just a bit. Axel stepped forward, concerned. "Hey, kid, you ok? Looks like you got banged up pretty bad…" the boy stretched his arm out, fingers outstretched, hand reaching. "Reno..?" he asked, before he stumbled and fainted, right into Axel's arms. Axel sighed. Well, the boss-man DID say to get anything valuable out of here, I imagine that means you too, you crazy chokobo-head." Axel turned and walked through the portal of darkness, dragging the kid and his sword behind him. Leaving the fallen world of Hollow Bastion far behind.

XxXxXxXxXx

Axel didn't take the kid back to headquarters, like he probably should have. If asked why not, he really couldn't say, all he really knew was that he felt uneasy at the thought of taking the younger boy there. So, instead, he had ended up taking the kid to Traverse town. Now they were in one of the hotel rooms, the boy sleeping on the bed and Axel leaning against the wall, just watching him. Axel had already been in and out of the room several times. Once to get medical supplies, potions, and bandages, medicine for the infections, water and wash-cloths to get rid of all that blood. Once to report to his superiors ("no, Xemnas there was nothing of importance"), . Once for food, in case the blond woke up. Finally, he had to force himself to stop; if he kept going on like this, it might seem that he actually _cared_. So now, here he was simply watching, and he didn't know why. All he could think about was what the sleeper had called him. _Reno_. Who the fuck was that? He thought about his life before the organization, when he was whole. No, he couldn't recall ever being called Reno, or meeting anyone by that name, but then again, he'd never been to Hollow Bastion before now.

The boy on the bed stirred, snapping Axel out of his thoughts. He blinked his eyes, disoriented. Axel stepped closer to the bed, cautious. If he was right, then this kid was one tough customer. The world he had come from had fallen almost a _month_ ago, and obviously he had been there the whole time since, fighting nonstop, if those wounds were anything to go by, or how long he had been sleeping. The last thing Axel wanted to do was startle him, and risk getting a belly full of that mammoth sword still clutched in the boy's hand. Axel allowed the kid a few minutes to wake up before he spoke. "Hey, kid, you awake?" the arm clutching the sword rose up and swung around to Axel's direction, causing the red-head to jump back with an explanation of "hey, man! Watch it, will ya?" the boy just stared at the ceiling, not looking at Axel. "Go _away_, Reno" he muttered tiredly. "Wha-I'm not Reno! You stupid chokobo-head!" exclaimed Axel, indignantly. "I don't even know who that _is_!My name is Axel. A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?" the boy on the bed glanced at him then, then went back to staring at the ceiling. "You're right, sorry" He muttered. The mammoth sword was carried swiftly back to his side, almost as if it had never moved. The hand then unwrapped itself from the hilt and was held out to Axel, in an offering of a handshake. The red-head looked at the hand, incredulous. Hesitantly, he reached out and took the narrow hand in his own, slightly larger one. The boy smiled slightly. "Strife." He said, "I'm is Cloud Strife. Good to meet you, Axel."

XxXxXxXxXxX

They sat on the clock-tower in Twilight Town. It had only been a few days, but already Cloud was well enough to move around. Axel's earlier assumption about the kid not being a normal human was only confirmed. Cuts that should have taken weeks if not months to heal were almost completely gone. Axel could have sworn that Cloud had been walking around with broken ribs, but now couldn't find a sign of anything broken, besides the rare grimace he sometimes wore. Even with the super healing, Axel had initially been uneasy about taking Cloud to another world, but the blond had insisted. So, here they were, Twilight Town. One of the few worlds not yet tainted in darkness. Eating ice-cream on the clock-tower, staring at the sunset. If this was a movie, Axel would be laughing at how sappy the whole thing was. But right now, he really didn't mind. In all honesty, it felt good to be sitting here with a friend, if that was what Cloud was to him, but frankly, he didn't care, the company was nice regardless. After a while, he broke the silence. "So, Cloud," he said around a mouthful of the blue ice-cream in his mouth sea-salt ice-cream. It was surprisingly good. "That blue uniform you were wearing when I found you" the red-head then glanced at his companion, who was still staring at the sunset. The boy in question shrugged and licked absent-mindedly at the frozen dessert in his hand. "I was a Soldier for Shinra," he said softly. "The outfit was required." Axel nodded, looking out at the landscape once more. "And your Reno, he said after a bit. He was part of this Shinra, too?" Cloud shrugged. "Kinda, yea." He said. He fell silent. Axel let it drop with a "whatever, chokobo-head", but after a bit, Cloud spoke again about Reno, unprovoked. "He called me that, too" he said absently. A soft laugh. "Everyone else just said I had 'gravity-defying hair'" another laugh. Axel laughed with him, although he had to agree with whoever "they" were, even when the kid had been covered in blood those spikes of his had still been in the same position they were now. They lapsed back into a comfortable silence.

"Thanks." Said Cloud suddenly, surprising Axel. The red-head turned to look at him. "For what?" Axel asked younger boy looked down at the popsicle stick clutched in his fingers, having finished the ice-cream a while back. "…Everything." He finally responded. "The clothes (a spare org. 13 outfit Axel owned), the help, everything. Thank you." Axel snorted. "You're really odd, ya know, Strife." The taller boy muttered. Then, "you're looking for someone, right?" Axel grinned at the other boy's startled expression. "Everyone travels the worlds for a reason Strife, and it wasn't too hard to figure out yours. So, who is it?" by now it had gotten fairly dark and the stars had started to come out. Not many, not anymore, but stars, nonetheless. Cloud gazed up at the few that were left. "He holds all the darkness inside of me. "My other half, Sephiroth." Axel leaned back, also looking at the stars. "A remnant, huh? I guess we're more alike than I thought."

XxXxXxXxXxX

The blond gaped at the scene around him, stunned. Axel clapped him on the back, making the smaller boy jump. "See? Whadda I tell ya? Only the strongest come here to fight!" Cloud gazed at the Coliseum, impressed. He was in the stands with Axel, watching the current match. One of the fighters was a young woman with pink hair and a gun. Apparently, her name was Lightning. Her opponent was a young man with sandy hair, he also had a gun. If Cloud remembered correctly, his name was Balthier. The woman won a few moments later. "All the strongest fighters from all the worlds come here?" he asked Axel. "_Yeah_, that's what I've been saying!" the red-head exclaimed, grinning widely. Cloud nodded, and turned back to the arena-where another battle had started-calculating. "What do you need to fight here?" Axel's smile grew. Smart kid, cutting to the chase like that. Well, I suppose you need a pass. "But to get one of those, you need a sponsor." Cloud nodded. "Who's yours?" he asked. "Uh…"Axle paused, taken aback. _Very_ smart kid, figuring that out. "That would be organization 13, but see, they're really picky about who they allow to be part of them. Remnant or not, I'm not sure they'd let you join, kid." Cloud gave a slight nod; he'd been expecting something like that. "The other sponsors?" he said, so softly his companion almost missed it. Axel pointed at the far ends of the arena. "See the goat dude?" a nod in confirmation. "Well, that's Phillitities, or Phil, the sponsor/trainer of the undefeated champ Hercules." His finger moved to the other side, "the blue creepy guy?" he asked. Another nod from the person beside him. "That's Hades, god of the underworld, but I really wouldn't mess with him." they were silent for a bit, watching Lightning advance to the semi-finals of the competition. "Is it possible to do the tournaments without a sponsor?" Axel scratched his head. "Yeah, but it's supposed to be really difficult." Cloud frowned slightly. "What do I have to do?" a shrug from Axel. Hero training, for one. "Then, if Phil over there thinks you have what it takes, he'll give you a pass, but so far only one person has managed to pass the hero training." The frown deepened. "Who was it?" Axel started laughing. "Hercules! Duh! The goat's a biased bastard!" By this time, Lightning had made it to the finals. Her opponent stepped onto the field, and Cloud saw the famous Hercules. Muscular, confident, it didn't matter that Lightning had a gun; she was defeated by the weaponless Hercules in under a minute. Cloud watched this silent. Then, "are there any other sponsors I should know about?"

A few hours later, Axel stood waiting by the Coliseum gates. At the end of the tournament, Cloud had walked away, saying that he wanted to talk to the sponsors, he'd see Axel later. So, here the red-head was, waiting, without really understanding _why_. "Axel." He looked up, and blinked. It was Cloud walking toward him, that was obvious, but it wasn't the same Cloud. Apparently, he'd found a sponsor. Gone was the spare outfit Axel had given him, he now wore a huge red scarf, covering his face, a warrior's outfit, fitting for the Coliseum, and combat boots. His sword, that before he had simply held in his hand, was now in a leather, almost holster, strap attached to his back. Axel grinned at the other boy. "You got a sponsor? That's great!" but his enthusiasm faded when he realized who Cloud's new sponsor was. Bony blue fingers wrapped around the blonde's shoulder, making him shudder slightly. Relief washed over Axel. At least it wasn't willing. Hades had probably forced Cloud with something. "Axie, baby!" gushed the blue-skinned god. Long time no see, how's the rest of your little group?" the god sneered at Axel. Hades hated the nobodies, for the simple fact that they had no souls. He may have been a back-stabbing, fast-talking sleaze who wanted to overthrow his brother, but still, had to have values. Axel ignored the god. "You okay with this? The underworld, where you'll stay, it's a dark place, man." A barely perceptible sigh. "I already signed his contract."

Hades pulled the young warrior away. "See ya around, flame-brain!" the god called over his shoulder. Axel rolled his eyes. "Takes one to know one, sulfur-breath." He muttered under his breath. He looked up; Cloud and Hades were already a fair distance away. "Hey, Cloud! The boy paused and turned around. "That guy, what's he like?" Cloud smiled, knowing exactly who 'that guy' was. "Like you,' he said back. He turned around and continued walking. "Only without the spiky hair!" a few moments later, Cloud was gone, leaving Axel alone in the courtyard. He chuckled slightly, sadly, looking up at the sky. They never saw each other again.

XxXxXxXxXxX

It had been a few years since he had seen the blond. How long exactly, he didn't know. Axel looked down at the file he was holding. It was about the newest member, a boy named 'Roxas' the keyblade bearer. There were no photos, the kid was a newborn. A portal of darkness opened, and Cloud stepped through. It wasn't _really_ Cloud, for all Axel knew, the kid was still fighting for Hades. But the kid looked like Cloud, down to the chokobo hair and impossibly blue eyes. How did you _get_ eyes so naturally blue? He smiled and walked over to the kid. Up close, there were differences. Smaller, younger, more innocent seeming. He grinned widely and leaned into the kid's face. "hey, chokobo-head!" the boy leaned back slightly, startled. Axel laughed. "My names Axel." He told the younger boy. Got it memorized?"

**End**


End file.
